HELLO

Hi. I'm Amanda...a happy wife and mom to three awesome guys. We've lived here in Fort Collins for more than 20 years and are proud to call it home. Before moving to CO, I worked at a city attorney's office, making use of my law and Master's degrees from Duke. After settling in Fort Collins, I homeschooled my three (now teenage and older) sons and was delighted to experience music classes, soccer, karate, swim team, archery, Science Olympiad, First Lego League, parkour, and climbing (not all at the same time!). From 2005-10, I was also a contributing editor for a national scrapbooking magazine, authoring a book and a couple of monthly columns. From 2009-10, I founded and ran the Good Grief Blog. I enjoy learning new things, spending time with my family, volunteering with The Matthews House, traveling and indoor rock climbing.

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2020-2021 (12th grade, 18 years old)

Enrolled full time at Colorado Early Colleges charter high school.

Fall semester (college classes taken on/through the CEC campus)

- Calculus 2 (MAT 202)
- Public speaking (COM 115)
- Calc-based Physics (PHY 211) (this one is taken on/through the FRCC campus)

- karate and karate demo team

 
Spring semester (college classes taken on/through the FRCC campus)

- Calculus 3 (MAT 204)
- Calc-based Physics (PHY 212)
- Philosophy of Death & Dying (PHI 220) 

 

2019-2020 (11th grade, 17 years old)

Enrolled full time at Colorado Early Colleges charter high school.

Fall semester (all classes are college classes but taken on the CEC campus)

- English Comp I (ENG 121)
- Pre-calculus (MAT 166)
- American State Government (POL 125)
- Art Appreciation (ART 110)

- Parkour, karate and karate demo team


Spring semester (first four classes are college classes...last class is a high school prep course...all courses are taken on the CEC campus)

- English Comp II (ENG 122)
- Calculus (MAT 201)
- Conceptual Physics (PHY 105)
- Business Communication & Report Writing (BUS 217)
- SAT prep

- Parkour, karate and karate demo team

 

2018-2019 (10th grade, 16 years old)

Enrolled part time at Colorado Early Colleges charter high school and still homeschooling part time

Fall semester

At CEC
- Spanish I
- Psychology (PSY 102)
- History since the 1500s (HIS 112)

At home
- English II (Analytical Grammar, season 3 plus world author reinforcements, Wordsmith Craftsman, selected reading)
- Algebra I (Art of Problem Solving)
- PE (Karate (twice a week throughout the year), Karate demo team (1-2 practices/week plus roughly monthly performances), Parkour (once a week)) 

 

Spring semester

At CEC
- College Algebra (MAT 121)
- Spanish II

At home
- Comparative literature
- PE (continued)
- another elective, yet to be determined

 

2017-2018 (9th grade, 15 years old)

MATH
- Geometry, Harold Jacobs

LANGUAGE ARTS (English I)
- Wordly Wise, book 9
- Analytical Grammar, seasons 1-2 plus reinforcements
- Writing & Rhetoric, book 6
- WordSmith
- selected reading

BIOLOGY
- Science for High School (fall semester)
- Botany (spring semester)

WORLD GEOGRAPHY
- Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall

PE
- Karate (twice a week throughout the year)
Karate demo team (1-2 practices/week plus roughly monthly performances) 
- Gymnastics (once a week, September and October)
Parkour (once a week, starting in January) 

HISTORY OF SCIENCE (fall semester)
- The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way, Joy Hakim
- The Story of Science: Newton at the Center, Joy Hakim

HEALTH (fall semester)
- Our Whole Lives

INTRO TO ARCHITECTURE (spring semester)
- numerous texts
- field trips

ART HISTORY (spring semester)
- Timeline Staircase
- field trips

 

2016-2017 (8th grade, 14 years old)

MATH
- The Art of Problem Solving, Algebra 
- A-Plus Notes for Beginning Algebra 

LANGUAGE ARTS
- Wordly Wise, book 8
- Reading Detective
- Don't Forget to Write
- Caught Ya: Grammar With a Giggle 
- Writing & Rhetoric, books 1-4
- self-selected reading 

SCIENCE
- The Story of Science: Aristotle & Newton
- How to Teach Nutrition to Kids 
- Science Olympiad (events: Dynamic Planet, Optics, Wright Stuff, Write it Do it, Fast Facts, and Reach for the Stars)

HISTORY
- creating our own timeline for early modern & modern times
- supplementary readings, including Shakespeare 

GEOGRAPHY
- Around the World in 180 Days 

PE
- Karate (twice a week throughout the year)
Karate demo team (1-2 practices/week plus roughly monthly performances) 
- Gymnastics (once a week)  
- swimming laps (once a week) 

ELECTIVES
- Signing Online program to learn ASL
- US government (unit study) icivics.org
- cursive 
- violin lessons (weekly, began February 2017) 

OPTIONS (one day a week enrichment program)
- PE
- Art: Meet the Masters
- American History
- Digital Art
- STEM
- Science in the Lab

 

2015-2016 (7th grade, 13 years old)

MATH
Dimensions Math 8
Beast Academy 3D thru 4D (review)

READING
- self-selected reading

SPELLING
All About Spelling, reviewing all 7 levels

GRAMMAR
- Sentence Composing for Middle School

WRITING
Write Like This
- Middle School Writing Toolkit

HISTORY
- creating our own timeline for ancient & medieval times
- supplementary readings

SCIENCE
- CPO Middle School Science (earth, physical and life science)
Tinker Crate

GEOGRAPHY
- reviewing both world and US geography

KOREAN
- Korean From Zero
- flash cards 

PE
- Karate (twice a week throughout the year)
Karate demo team (1-2 practices/week plus roughly monthly performances) 
- Gymnastics (once a week) 

ART
- Drawing in 3-D
- Doodle Crate 

OPTIONS (one day a week enrichment program)
- PE
- STEM
- Animation
- Robotics 2
- Physical Science
- Mad Science Mix 

 

2014-2015 (6th grade, 12 years old)

MATH
- Dimensions Math 7
- Key to Algebra

READING
- self-selected reading

SPELLING
- All About Spelling, level 7

GRAMMAR
- Jr. Analytical Grammar & Mechanics

VOCABULARY
- All About Homophones
- Word Roots, A2

HISTORY
- Story of the World, Volume 4
- The Story of US, books 7-10
- supplementary readings

SCIENCE
- miscellaneous units, including materials from Real Science 4 Kids (astronomy), Maker (lockpicking), Ellen McHenry (physics labs) and Tinker Crate

GEOGRAPHY
- Mapping the World With Art
- 50 States and Where to Find Them

MUSIC
- guitar (weekly 1 hour class at Options) 

PE
- Karate (twice a week throughout the year)
- Karate demo team (1-2 practices/week plus roughly monthly performances) 
- Gymnastics (once a week) 

ART
- You Can Draw in 30 Days

OPTIONS (one day a week enrichment program)
- PE
- Lego Storystarter
- Animation
- Robotics
- Guitar 2
- Mad Science Mix 

 

2013-2014 (5th grade, 11 years old)

MATH
- Teaching Textbooks, Math 7 & Pre-Algebra
- Life of Fred, Decimals

READING
- assigned monthly reading

SPELLING
All About Spelling, levels 6-7 

WRITING
Cover Story

VOCABULARY
All About Homophones
Word Roots, A1

WORLD HISTORY
Story of the World, Volume 3 

US HISTORY
Story of US, books 4-7
Critical Thinking in US History, New Republic to Civil War 

SCIENCE
Human Body Detectives, Circulatory & Nutrition units 
Ellen McHenry, The Elements
- Ellen McHenry, Carbon Chemistry 

GEOGRAPHY
US State Abbreviations 
How The States Got Their Shapes  

MUSIC 
- Clarinet (weekly 30 minute lessons + practice on his own)
- Guitar, piano & drums (on his own)

PE
- Karate (twice a week throughout the year)
- Karate demo team (1-2 practices/week, plus about monthly performances) 

ART
Art is Fundamental

ECONOMICS
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? and study guide 

WORLD VIEW
Sacred Stories & supplemental materials 

TYPING
Type Fu online program 

OPTIONS (one day a week enrichment program)
- Road Trip USA
- PE
- Art
- 21st Century Technology
- Forensics
- Ameritowne

 

 

2012-2013 (4th grade, 10 years old)

MATH
- Teaching Textbooks, Math 6
- Life of Fred, Fractions

READING
- assigned monthly reading 

SPELLING
All About Spelling, Levels 5-6 

GRAMMAR
Michael Clay Thompson, Level 2
Growing With Grammar, Level 4 

WRITING
Winning With Writing, Level 4
Writing Magic 

WORLD HISTORY
Story of the World, Volume 2 

US HISTORY
Story of US, books 1-3
Critical Thinking in US History, Colonies to Constitution 

SCIENCE
Elemental Science, Earth Science & Astronomy, Intermediate Level 

GEOGRAPHY
Expedition Earth 
US State Abbreviations  

MUSIC 
- Guitar, Bells & Drums (once a week classes at LEAP)

PE
- Karate (twice a week)
- Karate West Demo Team (practices 2-3 times/week, with performances ~monthly)

LEAP (one day a week enrichment program)
- Drumming
- PE
- Ameritowne
- Bells
- Spanish
- Guitar